Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

Learning Unit

Overview | Content Knowledge | Essential Questions | Connection To Standards | Initiating Activity | Learning Experiences | Culminating Performance
Pre-Requisite Skills | Modifications | Schedule/Time Plan | Technology Use

OVERVIEW

 The students in grade two will study the similarities and differences of the seventeen species of penguins. They will investigate habitats and how these habitats are suited to each species characteristics. Through individual and collaborative work, students will develop an understanding of how animals need to adapt to an ever-changing environment.

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• What generalizations can be made about all penguins?
• What are the common characteristics of each species?
• How do their physical features help them to adapt to their habitat?

CONNECTIONS TO NYS LEARNING STANDARDS
List Standard # and Key Idea #: Write out related Performance Indicator(s) or Benchmark(s)

 ELA Standard #1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding.

• Students will use the writing process to produce well-constructed informational texts. They will observe and use basic writing conventions.

ELA Standard #3: Students will listen, speak, read and write for critical analysis and evaluation.

• The students will monitor and adjust their own oral and written presentations to meet criteria for competent performance.

MST Standard #4: Science

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principals and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

• Students will understand that the structures of animals complement the environment of the animal.

MST Standard #6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science and technology.

• Students will use appropriate measurement tools in measurement activities. They will collect and look for patterns in data.

Arts Standard #1: Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts and participate in various roles in the arts.

• Visual Arts: Use the elements and principles of are to communicate specific meanings to others in their art work.

INITIATING ACTIVITY

 Introduce and begin reading Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. Though this fiction book, students will begin to identify factual penguin information that is embedded in the story. It was Mr. Atwater's wish that children see science as fun so he started writing this book and purposely included facts about penguins. I have extended his wish to include his wish to include many activities that will enrich student learning.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES
In chronological order including acquisition experiences and extending/refining
experiences for all stated declarative and procedural knowledge.

• As we continue reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, students will begin to develop a list of penguin facts learned from listening to the book. It is important to model the skills that you wish the students to acquire. Discuss the difference between fact and fiction. Have the students listen for the facts. Then together develop a sentence explaining each fact. As students become familiar with the technique, they can begin to develop their own sentences from board notes taken during chapter discussions. This also serves as an introduction to note-taking that is used during the report stage of this unit.
• The class will analyze story events through group discussions after each chapter. The literary elements of plot, theme, setting, characterization and story development. This opportunity for student reflection is very important.
• Develop a K-W-L chart with the class. Generate a KNOW list and a WANT to know list as related to penguins. Read nonfiction books, the Internet and watch videos to learn additional information for the LEARN part of the chart.
• After listening to chapter VII, the students will work collaboratively to sort and classify a list of household items. In this chapter, Captain Cook makes a rookery from these household items. Working collaboratively in small groups, students will analyze and develop a method for sorting and classifying the items. From the list given to each group, they will cut, classify and paste their categories on a graphic organizer. When done, the groups will explain and compare their classifications. Each group is likely to come up with a different way to classify the items.
• Mr. Popper names his penguins after explorers or those who helped them. The explorers were first know people to see penguins. This provides an opportunity for the teacher to introduce explorers and geography into this unit.
• Students will complete a penguin project on one species of penguin. They will be guided through the steps of how to complete a research project. At second grade most students have had little experience with this. They need much guidance. The project will have three parts. These include a written report, construction of a paper penguin and a penguin made at home. Both penguins should reflect knowledge learned about their penguin.

Part One:

• How students receive information to sue as research depends on the Internet availability. After choosing a penguin, teacher and or student uses the Internet to find and print information about their penguin. I bookmark my favorite site for penguin information. Pete and Barb's penguin page provides just enough knowledge about each penguin species. Then I have the student work with me to locate and print their information. Before I had Internet access, I book-marked information in books and shared it with the students. I still have many resource books available. Besides their Internet sources, they use at least two other room books for information.
• I will have previously provided the students with many opportunities to highlight information. I often use school letters that the office sends home with students. We read and highlight information that applies to us so that when its time to do this project, they understand highlighting.
• I provided the students with a list of sentence starters to guide their learning. These will also become the sentence and paragraph starters in their reports. These sentence starters guide inclusion of information on height, weight, physical features, diet, nesting habits, habitat and at least three special facts that the student chooses to include. After the students highlight important information, they complete the sentence starter page.
• Students use the information learned about their penguin's weight and a bathroom scale to find equivalent weight for it. Dictionaries and small books are stacked on the scale equal to the penguin's weight. These are counted and become part of their report. This gives students a frame of reference for weight and variations of the different penguins' weights.
• Students will then begin using the writing process to write a first draft of their reports. We will have had much previous experience with this process. This process will guide then through the stages of writing. I give teacher input and assistance as needed. Some students will be able to complete the talk with little assistance. Others may need much teacher guidance and assistance to complete the task.
• After conferencing and completing revisions, students use the computer to write their reports. I guide them through the editing process on the computer. Most of my students are not experienced with this. It provides me an opportunity to begin to develop these skills. When we're done, all students have reports that include the proper writing conventions so that a specific writing assessment on this isn't necessary. Know that student involvement in this step is vital to the extension of knowledge.

Part Two:

• Next students use their information to make a paper representation of their penguin.
• Students use an appropriate measuring tool to cut paper to the correct height of their penguin.
• Students find and print a picture of their penguin from the Internet. They use this picture and other pictures found in the room as a guide to showing the physical features of their penguin. Their finished penguin needs to include the correct coloring and markings. Students are also encouraged to use materials other than paper that will add these details.

Part Three:

• Students make a second penguin as a hone extension of this project. Creativity and three-dimensional representations are encouraged. Again, attention to correct detail is important. I accommodate those that may not have home support by leaving materials out on a table for students to use during free time or take home to complete this part of the project. This part is an optional activity but students realize that it is included as part of their grade.

When introducing this project, the students will have been presented with the rubric for it. This is an important guide to completing a quality project. The project is done during language arts. We spend approximately two weeks on this part of the unit.

Extending and Refining Activities

The following activities are meant to extend and refine the following skills; comparing and classifying, inductive and deductive reasoning, as well as teach the students to analyze perspectives.

• The day that student projects are presented is Black and White Day. We all dress in black and white. Based on report information, observing the physical characteristics of each penguin species and through discussions, the students induce specific facts about each penguin and its habitat. This is also a good time to discuss other animals that are black and white. We conclude our day by inviting parents to our Black and White Party. We of course serve only black and white food. The students are always very motivated by this unit. Parents are always curious to see the projects of all the students. I've found that it's fun to have the parents visit the room informally. They always seem to enjoy spending time looking at all the projects but also doing other room activities with their child.
• We use a digital camera to record all of the stages of this unit. Then we turn it into a slide show on the computer that is on continually during out party. This offers a new perspective to parents and the students are able to learn about their work habits in a positive manner.
• In chapter nineteen of Mr. Popper's Penguins, Mr. Popper has to make a decision about what to do with his penguins. After reading about mr. popper's problem and his choices, I have the students write a letter to Mr. popper explaining what they think he should do and why. We do a survey of our choices and give supporting evidence as to why each student feels his/her choice would be the best decision. Then we tally our results and read about Mr. Popper's choice.
• We use a graphic organizer to compare and classify the different penguin species. Through discussion, we answer the Essential Questions. What generalizations can be made about all penguins? What are the common characteristics of each species? How do their physical features help them to survive in their habitat?

CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
Include rubric(s)

• Students demonstrate all of the knowledge learned about penguins, story elements and fact versus fiction as they watch the movie, Pebble and the Penguin, and fill in a graphic organizer for it. The organizer allows students to list story events, penguin facts, setting and characters. This movie is similar to Mr. Popper's Penguins in that it is a fictional cartoon that has penguin facts embedded into it. It is important to stop the movie several times to evaluate and guide students through the process and to have a final discussion at the end.

Assessment Plan

I want the students to evaluate their learning as they progress through the unit. I also expect them to produce to the best of their ability. Because of this, I think presenting the rubric early on in the project phase is crucial. The students will have had many prior experiences with rubrics. They understand the expectations and meet them because of the interest level. Students will have also used the oral presentation rubric previously. This unit seems to bring together all the skills that we have worked on since September. It provides all of us an opportunity to reflect on our growth as we continue to expand our knowledge. I say we because this is always a learning experience for me as well.

RUBRICS

The Perfect Penguin Project Rubric

A score of four

• Student has all notes given and found other information
• These notes are neatly stapled together
• Student highlighted notes and used highlights for report information
• Report is very well done with six or more interesting facts
• The penguin is very neat, creative and shows all features
• Some materials besides paper were used to make the school penguin
• All parts of penguin were measured correctly and cut carefully
• The home penguin shows much knowledge and creativity
• No paper was used to make the at home penguin

A score of three

• Student has all the research note stapled together
• Student highlighted most of work used in the report
• The report is well done with at least four interesting facts
• The school penguin is neat, creative and shows most features
• Most parts are measured and cut carefully
• The home penguin shows knowledge and creativity
• Materials other than paper were used to make the at home penguin

A score of two

• Student has some of the penguin notes and some of there are stapled together
• Too much information is highlighted
• The report has two or three interesting facts
• The school penguin is don’t but lacks quality and some features
• The penguin was not measured and cut carefully
• The at home penguin was drawn on paper

A score of one

• The penguin notes are missing
• Everything or nothing is highlighted
• Only one or no interesting facts were included in the report
• The school penguin lacks quality features
• No at home penguin was done

The students each submit a folder of their work. I then sit with each student. We look through the folder. I make a star next to each line on the rubric that best describes the quality of their work on that part of the task. This helps the student to fully understand their score and gives them ownership in the score.

Oral Presentation Rubric

A score of four

• Student always stays on topic
• Student presents all information and nothing else
• Student presents all information in a clear and logical way
• Student speaks loudly and clearly
• Student has very good eye contact, posture and gestures

A score of three

• Student stays on topic most of the time
• Student presents most of the information clearly and logically
• Student speaks loudly and clearly with few reminders
• Student has good eye contact, posture and gestures most of the time

A score of two

• Student not always on topic
• Some information presented is clear and logical, some is not
• Student needs many reminders to speak loudly and clearly
• Student has poor eye contact and posture, gestures not appropriate

A score of one

• Student fives little information about the topic
• Student includes much information that is not about the topic
• Information given is not clear or logical
• Even with reminders, student doesn't speak clearly or loudly
• No eye contact, poor posture and inappropriate gestures

RESOURCES

There are no extraordinary resources needed. When I first started this unit many years ago I had only a copy of Mr. Popper's Penguins. Each year I have found new materials and resources to extend student learning. Sometime ago I bought my first stuffed penguin. That penguin has grown into a rather extensive collection of them. These penguins are on display in the classroom and are used for various activities during the unit. Students come to my class knowing that they will study penguins. The internet is an added bonus but is not a key part of the unit. The one key part is to have a resource that describes the different characteristics of the different species.
If the students have access to the internet, it is a great way to integrate learning.

PRE-REQUISITE SKILLS

Highlighting important information
Word processing
Use of a ruler, yard stick/meter stick and a scale
Group work skills
Use of a rubric as a guide to learning and assessment

MODIFICATIONS

 This is a challenging and very motivating unit for second graders. Some students will need more assistance than others to complete the project. All students can use the rubric as a guide to performance. By providing additional support to those that need it, I don't need to modify my goals. I do expect that the capable students will have more details in their written work.. I want all and expect all students to succeed. It is very helpful to have additional adult support during the project phase of this unit. This may be accomplished with the help of a support teacher, an assistant or parent volunteers.

UNIT SCHEDULE/TIME PLAN

 The planning stage of the unit takes about a week. It is during this time that I begin reading the book. We spend two to three more weeks on out project, extending and refining and the culminating task. The activities that we include and the time spent depend on the ability levels of the students. There are enough activities that this unit can be modified to fit the needs of each new class. During the project phase, our research and writing takes up the major portion of our day. Because the students find this challenging and fun, the time goes quickly for all.

TECHNOLOGY USE

Word processing program
Digital camera
Internet
Internet Sites Used:
www.seaworld.org
Http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/
Ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Peter_and_Barbara_Barnarn/frame_education.html

This is Pete and Barb's web page. I seem to have better luck just asking for Pete and Barb's penguin page. Each year I am impressed with the improvement made to this site. There are other sites but I like this one the best for my students. It is well organized with the specific facts about each penguin species.